OAA’s highest award

ORILLIA, ON—In a rare joint presentation, Bruce Stanton, MP (Simcoe North) and Gord Brown, MP (Leeds-Grenville) both received the Butler Award, the highest honour of the Ontario Accommodation Association (OAA), at the association’s Honours Banquet, April 14, 2008, at Casino Rama Hotel, Orillia. The Butler Award is given to an individual who has made a dedicated and outstanding contribution to Ontario’s accommodation industry.

This year, for the first time since this award was inaugurated in 1989 and presented to both Butler brothers, OAA gave its award simultaneously to two people. It is the first time that elected officials received this award.

The two politicians from Ontario are federal Conservative Members of Parliament, and they both come from OAA member properties. In a minority government, they are tireless advocates for our tourism industry.

“They get tourism on the radar and they keep tourism on the radar,” said OAA president Bruce Gravel. “In a minority government, they are both strong defenders of our industry.”

Gravel said tourism tends to be an issue easily put on the back burner, but both MPs, who have backgrounds in the industry, work to focus on important aspects.

For many years, Stanton co-operated Bayview Wildwood Resort in Severn Bridge, ON, which has been in his family for several generations. His sister, OAA past chair Dianne Hounsome, received OAA’s Butler Award in 2004, and his father, Ron, received the Butler Award in 1995. Elected as an MP in 2006, Stanton has led the charge to successfully stonewall Parks Canada’s plans to inflict waterlot fees on all operators on the Trent-Severn Waterway, by forming a fact-finding panel to hear testimony throughout 2007. He founded and chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Tourism Caucus, which meets regularly on the Hill.

The following day, Stanton was also honoured by Resorts of Ontario with its top award (see story on page 14). Hounsome was on hand to accept on his behalf.

Before becoming an MP, Gord Brown was operator of five tourism properties in Gananoque, four of which are hotels and are all OAA members: the Holiday Inn Express Hotel, the Quality Inn, the Comfort Inn, and the Clarion Inn & Conference Centre.

Brown chaired the St. Lawrence Parks Commission for two years, and helped revitalize the parks‚ facilities and attractions, a major tourism draw in Eastern Ontario. He also worked hard to rejuvenate Upper Canada Village and Fort Henry, both of which were named National Attraction of the Year during his term as chair.

Both recipients are key supporters of the federal tourism lobbying efforts of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC).

Ford stays on as chair

In other OAA news, current chair Heather Ford of Green Acres Inn, Kingston will stay on for a third year as chair, since her vice-chair, Mark Hvasti of Bracebridge has sold his property and is currently not in the accommodation industry.

The OAA also honoured Hvasti for his contributions to the association, at the April 14 honours banquet.

OAA’s 1,000 innkeeper members have 23,000 guest rooms and contribute over $362 million annually to Ontario’s economy.